Embroidering attachment for flat-knitting machines



K. F. NEBEL. EMBBOIDERING ATTACHMENT FOR FLAT KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1920. 1,401,720- Patented Dec. 27, 1921 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

ATTO/P/YEX K. F. NEBEL.

EMBROIDERING ATIACHMENT FOR FLAT KNITTING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 23, 1920.

1,401,720. Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A TTOJPN X L FRIEDRICH NEBEL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR TO THE NOLDE 86 HORST COMPANY, OF READING, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

EMBROIDERING ATTACHMENT FOB, FLAT-KNITTDWG MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 2'7, 1921.

Application filed November 23, 1920. Serial No. 425,959.

To all whom it may concern:

' Be it known that I, KARL F.- Nnenn, a citi-=" zen of the United States, residing at the' -c1ty of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Embroidering Attachment for Flat-Knitting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

This invention. generally stated, has relation to flat knitting machines and has more especial relation to a machine of this character constructed to knit a. fabric upon conventional spring-beard needles with yarn from one set of bobbins and by means of which at the same time there .is fed in embroidering yarn from a separate set of bobbins, through the instrumentality of movable guides, to form stripes or other ornamental designs or figures upon the ground fabric made from the body yarn, both operations occurring at the same time.

, In machines of this character the guide above referred to have imparted thereto a to and fro movement transversely of a machine the guides passing between adjacent needles during such movement. Practice dictates that jamming and bending of needles result and frequently breaking of the spring-beards occur because the guides pass between the needles in a plane below the spring-beards. Since the thickest part of a needle is that supporting the spring-beards,

obviously, small space is present between adjacent needles to permit passage of a guide. In the case of what is termed in the trade as a fine gage machine this trouble is pronounced. When the spring-beards become broken, holes occur in the fabric being knitted thus rendering the fabric worthless. Another trouble experienced is that the guides cannot be placed sufficiently close together so that every needle receives emroidering yarn.

It is the primary object of the present invention to overcome the above recited disadvantageous features and provide an attachment for a machine of the character stated whereby guides for the embroidering yarn are so shifted with respect to the needle that the eyes of the guides, in the to and fro movement of the latter. pass between adjacent needles in substantially the same horizontal plane as the spring-beards,

the space between adjacent needles being greatest in said plane, whereby the efliciency of a machine is increased and the quality and appearance of work enhanced. A further object of the present invention is to provide an arrangement of parts in which the embroidering yarn guides are caused to move upwardly simultaneously with the upward movement of the needles whereby the eyes of the guides are in substantially the same horizontal plane with the beards of the needles during those periods in which the ide move transversely between the 'needles. Other and further objects not referred to at this time will appear hereinafter.

The invention consists of the improvements hereinafter described and finally claimed.

tion, so much of the knitting machine inechanism being illustrated as is necessary to carry the present invention into effect.

Fig. 2, is a view of a portion thereof in front elevation,

Figs. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 are. diagrammatic views, hereinafter referred to, illustrating various movements of the knitting needles and guides, and

Figs. 8 and 9 are views illustrating 1n froiit and side elevation the guides and needles.

Referring now to the drawings in .detail and more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, 1O designates the dam-shaft of a flat knltting machine which may be of any desired type, said shaft being rotatably mounted in the machine frame 11. 12 designates conventional s ring-beard knitting needles held in is imparted to the frames 13 by means of bell-crank levers 14 secured to a rock shaft 15 one end of each lever having pivotal connection with a frame 13 and the other end of each lever being in the path of travel of a cam 16 mounted upon cam-shaft 10. Ac cording to the present invention as fabric is knit upon needles 12 with body yarn from spools or bobbins 17, there is fed to said needles embroidering yarn by means, including movable guides, to form stripes or ornamental characters upon the ground fabric made from the body yarn, both operations occurring at the same time. To attain this result I add to a conventional flat knitting machine an attachment, a description of which will now be given. Carried by arms 26, hereinafter described, is a longitudinally extended rod 20. Fixed to rod 20 and depending therefrom are a plurality of spaced hangers 21 each provided with a frame 22 equipped with embroidering yarn guides 23. These guides are so spaced that they may be caused to pass between adjacent needles by mechanism hereinafter described. 'lhe normal position of these guides is in front of the needles. During a knitting period rod 20 has imparted thereto a vertical reciprocating movement, a rocking or oscillating movement upon its axis and an endwise or longitudinal reciprocal movement so that the guides may properly co-act with respect to the needles. A description will now be given of the mechanism for efiecting these movements.

Vertical recipr00atz'0n.-Extending along the rear of the machine is a rock-shaft 24 supported at intervals by means of vertical brackets 25 secured to the machine frame. Fixed to and projected forwardly from said shaft 2d at intervals are th horizontally disposed arms 26 before referred to, the forward end of each arm being provided with a lug 27 forming a bearing for said rod 20 which has an endwise sliding fit therewith. Also fixed to shaft 24: are one or more levers 28 the free end of a lever 28 being provided with a roller 29 which lies in the path of travel of a cam 30 secured to cam-shaft 10. With the rotation of shaft 10 cam 30 functions to cause a vertical reciprocating movement of rod 20 through connections 2826 thereby imparting a like movement to guides 23. Cams 16 and 30 are so timed that the needles and guides are raised in unison but are lowered independently.

Transverse reciprocation.ll-laving pivotal relation with the knitting machine frame as at 39 is a vertical lever the upper end of which is forked to receive a pin d1 of an arm 42.. This arm 42 is fixed to and depends from rod 20. The lower end of lever. 40 is provided with a roller 43 constantly maintained in contact with cam 44 mounted on cam-shaft 10 by reason of? spring 4.25. Thus rotation of cam-shaft 10 and cam enemas 4.4: will cause lever 40 to move in a rocking or oscillating manner around its pivot point and cause rod 20 through arm l2 to rock and reciprocally move transversely of the machine in an arc of a circle, th embroidering yarn frames including their complemental guides. By this movement the guides are caused to pass to and fro between the knitting needles.

Zongitudnal reoiprocation.l-laving pivotal relation as at 31 with frame 11 is a vertical lever 32 the upper end of which is forked as at 33 for engaging around rod 20. This forked portion 33 obviously is sufficiently deep to permit of vertical reciprocation of said rod 20. Fixed to rod 20 adjacent lever 32 is a collar 34. and between said collar and said lever is a compression spring 35 which (see Fig. 2) is coiled around rod 20. Fixed to cam-shaft 10 is a cam 36 lying in the path of travel of which is a friction roller 37 carried by the lower end of lever 32. As shaft 10 and cam 36 rotate lever 32 is moved about its pivot to cause rod 20 to move longitudinally thus imparting a like movement to the embroidering yarn guides. To insure return of rod 20 to initial position after beingshifted by lever 32 a second spring 38 (see Fig. 2) is employed which spjring is not strong enough to resist the longitudinal movement of rod 20 under the cushioned action of lever 32 toward the left in Fig. 2.

A description will now be given in detail of the various movements of the guides with respect to the knitting needles reference being more particularly directed to the diagrammatic positions of parts as shown in Figs. 3 to 7 inclusive, it being understood that the various cams upon cam-shaft 10 are properly timed for accomplishing these movements. With the knitting needles, knocking-over bits, dividers and sinkers of a convention flat knitting machine operating as usual to produce a fabric, the needles move upwardly until the spring-beards 51 come into the same horizontal plane with the eye part 50 of each guide, the guides at this time being in front of the needles. This position is shown in Fig. 3. The guides are now caused to move transversely of the machine, toward the rear thereof, so that the eye part 50 of each guide, which is extremely thin and fiat as shown in Fig. 8, passes through a needle space in the same horizontal plane as the spring-beard por tions of the needles. llhe spring-beard portion of a needle part is extremely thin as is shown in Fig. 9. This position of parts is shown in Fig. t. By this time the needles and guides have completed their upward movement and their relative position is shown in Fig. 5. Approximately at this time the guides have been shifted longitw dinally of the machine in one direction for Mid a distance of one or more needle spaces, as desired. The guides are now caused to move forwardly between the needles as shown in Fig. 6 and are lowered to original position as shown in Fig. 7 Embroidering yarn will now be looped around each needle and held above the sinkers but below the spring- 1 beards, because of the guides and because of the proper tension upon the embroidering yarn, so as to insure proper showing upon the fabric. The knitting needles are held in uppermost position during the steps referred to in connection with Figs. 5, 6, and

7 whereupon they are lowered to effect needle action in the well understood manner. The rod 20 is now shifted longitudinally in the opposite direction thus returning the guides to original position.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enu-- merated as desirable in the statement ofthe invention and the above description and while I have in the present instance shown and described an embodiment thereof which has been found in practiceto give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that the same is susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

What I claim is:

1. In a machine of the character stated, mechanism for knitting upon spring-beard needles a fabric of body yarn, means inclluding guides for feeding embroidering yarn to the knitting needles to form ornamental effects upon the ground fabric made from the body yarn, means for raising verthe body yarn, means for raising vertically and in unlson the needles and guides, means for moving the guides transversely of the machine in register with needle spaces while the lower parts of the guides are in substantially the same horizontal plane as the upper parts of the needles and means for shifting the guides horizontally of the needles while the guides are elevated and to the rear of the needles.

- 3. A machine as... described in claim 2,

characterized by means for shifting said guides horizontally of the. needles while the guides are in lowered position and in front of the needles.

4. In a machine of the character stated,

mechanism for knitting upon spring-beardneedles a fabric of body yarn, means including guides for feeding embroidering yarn to the knitting needles to form ornamental effects upon the ground fabric made from the body yarn, means for, raising vertically and in unison theineedles and'guides, means for moving the guides transversely of the machine in register with needle spaces while horizontally in an opposite direction and in I front of .said' needles subsequent to the low ering of said guides.

mechanism for knitting upon spring-beard needles'a fabric of body yarn, guides forv feeding embroidery yarn to the knitting needles to form ornamental effects upon the H 6. In a machine of the character stated,"

ground fabric made from the body yarn Y said guides each comprising a cylindrical shank terminating in a flat, apertured end,

means for vertically reciprocating the knitting needles and means for moving the guides upwardly in unison with the needles with the flat, apertured end of a guide in substantially the same horizontal plane with the beard of a needle. i

7. A construction as described in claim 6,

characterized by means for moving the guides to and fro between said needles while said flat apertured ends andv beards are in said plane.

8. A construction as described in claim 6, characterized by means -for reciprocating the guides longitudinallywith respect to the needles.

9. In a machine of the character stated, mechanism including knitting needles for forming fabric of body yarn, means including guides for feeding other yarn to the knitting needles tov form contrasting effects upon the ground fabric made from the body yarn, means for raising vertically and substantially in unison the needles and guides, and means for moving the guides transversely of the machine in register with needle spaces while the lower parts of the guides are in substantially the same horizontal plane as the upper parts of the needles.

In testimony whereof, I have hereun signed m name.

RL FRIEDRICH NEBEL. 

